


Everlong

by TheDoctorAteMyShoe



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Drama & Romance, Episode Fix-It: s02e04 The Girl in the Fireplace, Eventual Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 04:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11821488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorAteMyShoe/pseuds/TheDoctorAteMyShoe
Summary: Rose is teleported through the same portal as the Doctor when he leaps through the mirror. When she lands on the other side, she finds an unexpected surprise. Rose and the Eighth Doctor tackle mystery, 17th century France, and this unspoken attraction they harbor for each other.





	Everlong

**Author's Note:**

> Pythagorean Numerology: The numerical value of "everlong" in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
> 
> My working title actually seems to have a deeper meaning! coincidence? I think not! It's now official. 
> 
> Note: rating may change, the Doctor and Rose need to do it eventually.

The Doctor had just rounded the corner of the spaceship on a white horse, priming himself to jump through the window. Rose watched in horror as he was broke through the last open portal, knowing that there would be no coming back. Before she could protest she saw a robot appear from a door in the hall and lunge towards the Doctor and steed.

Instinctively Rose ran towards the advancing robot, diving to tackle it before it could impede the Doctor. Just as the front of the horse broke through the window, a bright blue flash of light surrounded Rose. The hard metal landing she’d been anticipating never came. Instead she had landed on a softened ground composed of grass. The force of her weight crushed the robot into pieces. She lifted herself up, cautiously poking the head of the robot underneath her, and quickly flinched anticipating the need to fight. 

Satisfied with its destruction, Rose sat back on her haunches and let out a nervous breath. The smashed parts and innards looked similar to the parts of a broken watch, and seemed lifeless and still. Gathering herself she stood up and studied her surroundings. It was then she noticed a very surprised man standing a foot away from her and gaping. She smiled a broad smile and said, “Hello.” 

“Oh, I should say so,” the man replied. 

Rose took a moment to take in his clothes and found him a bit peculiar. Though she couldn’t be completely sure, he looked like he belonged to the Dickensian era. He wore a bottle-green velvet frock coat, an elaborately embroidered golden waist coat, and a matching ascot. Rose was pretty certain that the men of the 17th century France wore more feminine-looking clothes with tights and dress-like tops. 

Her eyes wandered from the man to her surroundings, and it appeared to be 17th century Versailles. They sat inside a well-manicured garden with many symmetrical bushes lined just so, in what seemed to be the early morning hours. In the distance a large palace loomed, one Rose could only assume was home to Reinette.The gentleman cleared his throat and Rose turned back to him.

“Wichita Falls?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“Sorry?” Rose replied. She was thoroughly confused and a little uncomfortable at the man’s line of sight at her breast, until she realized he was reading her shirt.

 

“Oh…um, yeah. Er….My family, see, they’re clothes makers and I know this sort of seems… well bare and inappropriate-but I assure you his royal highness has specifically asked for such clothes to be modeled. So…here I am…modeling.” 

 

She stuck her arms out and twisted to give a bit of a show of the clothes. 

 

“Have you, uh, seen the King, by chance? I should really be going, wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.”

 

She gestured towards the palace over her shoulder and started to walk backwards. Just as she turned around the gentlemen firmly grasped her wrist. Rose whipped back around wide eyed in shock. Though his grasp was not painful, it wasn’t exactly gentle. His expression was one that showed he shouldn’t be trifled with. Rose swallowed nervously.

 

“Apparel model for the King? Funny, I would think you were more a time traveler from…oh, say, the 21st century. A north Londoner it would seem, more than that of a French-born seamstress’ daughter.” His face held a slight smirk. Rose’s mouth opened dumbfounded before she quickly shut her mouth. 

“So what if I am?” she asked, lifting her chin in defiance.

“You shouldn’t be here. Now tell me truthfully girl, are you with the Time Agency?” 

Rose sighed, honesty was the best policy right?

“No, I found my way through portal – apparently that drone took me with him when I tried to tackle him. It was trying to hurt my friend as he burst through one of the portal on a horse-don’t ask- to help someone in danger. ‘Cause we do that, me and him. Help people, that is. And what’s with people calling me a child so much today?” she huffed to herself. 

She used the man’s momentary confusion to yank her wrist out of his grasp. Rose couldn’t figure out what made her so nervous to be around this man. Her explanation seemed to make his posture ease from his former tense stance though. It was as though his demeanor instantly changed.

He grasped her hand again gently and softly placed a kiss on the back of it. His eyes never left hers, studying the beautiful woman in front of him. 

“Pray tell, what does my rescuer call herself?” His voice was kind, and he had a gentle smile on his face. Rose couldn’t quite place him, but he seemed super familiar. She studied his face for a moment until she realized he was staring at her as though she had just dribbled on her shirt. Why was that? Oh! He’d asked her a question,…

“My name? Rose. Rose Tyler.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” He stepped closer to her and grabbed both of her hands in his.

“My name is the Doctor,” he smiled, expecting her to clarify with “Doctor Who?”

“Doctor?” Rose gasped. His smile faltered when he saw a flash of recognition in her eyes. He was perplexed to watch her expression change from a sly blush to one of horror. She gingerly placed her hands on either side of his face, running her thumb over his cheekbone in what he considered a very intimate gesture (but one he honestly rather enjoyed). 

“You regenerated? Doctor, what happened? How come you don’t remember me?” Tears started forming in her eyes. Those tears tore through him and made a rush of panic set in – he never wanted to see tears in those lovely whiskey-colored eyes. Curious. He’d never had that reaction to someone, let alone a human. Wait, had she just said “regenerated”?

“Forgive me, but I am remiss to say that I do not recognize you. Have we met?”

Rose let out a soft sob and stepped back. He quickly grasped her hands again and stepped forward. She studied his face for any sign of recognition on his part. All she found was a very worried set of eyes watching her. The Doctor felt helpless, clearly this lovely woman she knew him and he was sad to admit she was a stranger. 

“This regeneration has had some memory problems, but I assure you I could not forget someone like you, Rose Tyler.” 

He spoke in honesty, though he was troubled by the familiarity of her and the fact that he couldn’t place her. She didn’t say anything in reply and he was desperate to remedy the situation. 

“You mention regeneration so I gather you do know me. The version of me you know, what did I look like?”

Rose sniffled. 

“Um… sort of brown hair.” She pointed to her hair in gesture. “Spiky hair, brown eyes, tall, skinny – my Mum says she’s certain you’ve never had sex because a girl would break you.” She laughed at the memory before sobering in embarrassment at what she’d just said. She noticed a blush creep across his cheeks as well.

“And…and…oh! The shoes, he wear trainers, tan trainers, and a brown suit with blue stripes. Oh! And ties…”

The Doctor furrowed his brow in confusion. He’d never been the fellow she was describing. Furthermore, who wears trainers with a suit? Instantly it hit him-she was from his future.  
“I’ve never looked like that, and you are neither from my past nor present which leaves one alternative. You, Rose Tyler, are my future.”

Rose vaguely registered the absence of “from my future” in that last line somewhere in the back of her mind as she processed what he was saying. Instantly she broke away from his grasp and whirled around, eyes searching the skies in panic.

“Reapers! Are the reapers coming? We’re risking timelines, yeah?” 

The Doctor again advanced towards her and placed one hand on her shoulder.

“Not as such.” He smiled brightly. 

“I’ve seen them before, I know what can happen...”

“Pardon me for not being clear, I should say there shouldn’t be if we’re careful. Time Lords are afforded a lot of leniency when it comes to being around a former/future version of themselves and even traveling into our own future or past timelines. Otherwise what good would being a Time Lord and managing time be? Unless someone is killed or a timeline drastically changed so far that it cannot be corrected, reapers will not appear. That said, I don’t feel myself up here.” He tapped his temple.

“So, the Doctor’s not here?” 

“I assure you, the Doctor is very much here.” He smiled with flourish and gestured to his own body. 

“I mean my you. How’s that possible? I thought we came through the same portal?” 

The Doctor’s attention was drawn to the smashed pieces of droid on the grass. He squatted down and gently picked at the pieces, scanning them with his sonic screwdriver. 

“It’s quite possible the force of four beings pushing through the portal divided you into different times. I’ve just arrived but news of myself travels fast usually. My guess would be we’ve landed before my future self has visited Versailles.” He paused and returned to studying the specimen.

“Earlier today I’d encountered one such miscreant droid. It tackled the uncrowned queen of France in court, and do you know she was quite outraged? At me!” the Doctor threw over his shoulder. 

 

“Reinette? Mad at you?” 

“She was! Accused me of trying to cop a feel and kiss her! Simply because I was standing closest to her! She thinks me repulsive, apparently.”

Rose burst out laughing, not only had Madame de Pompadour been completely repelled by her “lonely angel,” she’d been disgusted by the thought of kissing him! Rose wondered what her Doctor would think if knew his Madame had rejected him. 

The present Doctor looked offended at Rose’s laughing. 

“I assure you there is nothing funny about kissing me. I am quite capable of being a fantastic lover.” He sniffed indignantly. 

“No! No, no – sorry. I wasn’t laughing at the thought of kissing you… I was laughing at the fact that my current you bragged about snogging Madame de Pompadour and seemed quite pleased about it.” 

The Doctor pulled a grimace. 

“Imagine the many communicable disease that lie upon her lips…” He shuddered at the thought. 

“She wouldn’t be the first to want to kiss you…” 

Finishing his examination, he stood and moved closer to Rose, placing a hand on the small of her back and guiding her away before facing her. 

“Are you implying that you aren’t repulsed by the thought of kissing me?” His face held a smug smile before turning serious and letting his eyes fall to her lips. Rose tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and blushed, biting her lip to keep from saying something stupid. 

 

He swallowed visibly and he studied her, building up his courage. 

 

“Rose… tell me truthfully. What are we to each other?” He searched her eyes with longing, fear, and a small hint of vulnerability. 

“N-nothing. Just mates, yeah? Best of friends. Shiver and Shake. I’m Shake,” she said trying to mask the hurt with a bit of humor, still opting to look anywhere but at his gaze. 

The Doctor was about to say more when a throat cleared from somewhere behind them and they quickly broke apart guiltily. A tall man flanked by royal guards was glaring at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Monsieur d’Argenson!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Pardon my delay for our meeting, it seems another droid has tried to attack the grounds. I was following the energy signature when I found my wife had beat me to it.”

He turned to grab Rose’s hand.

“Rose, may I introduce you to Monsieur d’Argenson, Secretary of War to King Louis XV. Monsieur d’Argenson, this is my wife, Rose Tyler. She will be helping me with this investigation.”

The Secretary stepped forward, bowed and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I assure you that your accommodations will be perfect for a married couple and guest of the monarch. We’ll need to have our meeting in the carriage on the way to your residence, as I am pressed for time.” He stepped into his awaiting carriage as Rose and the Doctor followed suit.

Rose placed her hand in the crook of his elbow pulling him back to whisper in his ear. 

“Wife?”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for years. If I don't post it now and work as I go, it'll never see the light of day.


End file.
